Unite the Union’s Ballot for Bus Drivers’ Strike

Keith Prince: Mr Mayor, when you encouraged demonstrating Unite the Union Bus Drivers at City Hall on 29 August 2019 to 'keep up the pressure on TfL' over bus driver fatigue, was balloting their members to secure their support for strike action, as they did on 7 February, what you had in mind?

The Mayor: I personally commissioned an independent report to understand and address the very serious issue of bus driver fatigue and, in consultation with the trade unions and bus operators, TfL is firmly committed to implementing measures to tackle it.
These commitments include making rigorous fatigue risk management systems mandatory for any company to operate London buses under new contracts from summer 2020; ensuring that all managers in bus garages have undertaken fatigue training; making £500,000 available to help operators undertake further work to establish the most effective interventions to reduce fatigue; roster reviews by operators against best practice to reduce the risk of fatigue; giving driver representatives the opportunity to be trained in fatigue; ensuring a greater focus on the health and wellbeing of drivers and TfL undertaking to foster a more open and honest culture across the industry.
All these measures have been discussed with Unite, whose recent ballot was purely indicative, and TfL are in constant dialogue with bus drivers and their representatives to tackle the issue of driver fatigue.